By Kendra Smith

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Traditional Chinese music filled the air as performers danced, sang and played a variety of instruments at the Office of Chinese Language Council International and UK Confucius Institute’s Confucius Institute Day.

Adorned booths lined the edge of Triangle Park Saturday morning, each representing a different aspect of Chinese culture.

Festival-goers viewed demonstrations of calligraphy, origami, fan dancing, opera mask painting and more physical demonstrations like tai chi. Children ran around the park with Chinese yo-yos and ribbons in hand.

UKCI employee Jia Liu, 29, demonstrated a tea ceremony at one of the booths.

“I like every part of this event. If it is about Chinese culture, I love it very much,” Liu said. “I did not expect so many people to show up this early on a Saturday.”

Confucius Institute director Huajing Maske said she was pleased with the morning’s turnout.

“It was such a great event, and we had such beautiful weather,” Maske said.

Later that evening, spectators gathered in the Singletary Center for the Arts Recital Hall for the second part of the celebration, which celebrated HanFu, the traditional clothing of the Han Chinese ethnic group, according to the event program.

Models donned bright, colorful robes and dresses that stretched to the floor.

The models were accompanied by a musician playing the zither, a Chinese string instrument, as well as dancing and folk music.

Mu Dan Hong Dance, a Chinese folk dance group based in the Lexington area, also performed, using props like fans and ribbons to entertain the crowd.

“I really enjoyed the ribbon dancing,” said Sam Warford, a psychology and Japanese senior. “It’s good to expose people to different cultures like this.”

The event program said Chinese dance is a highly varied art form.

Though the dances may have been the highlight of the evening for many, UKCI financial manager Daniel Rogers, 25, said he enjoyed the tea ceremony, which exemplified Chinese etiquette according to the program.

There are now 465 Confucius Institutes across 123 countries, Maske said.

The Confucius Institute teaches Chinese at K-12 schools across the Commonwealth, Rogers said.

“People here haven’t always seen some of these outfits or some of this culture, so it’s always good to introduce it to our community here at UK and in Lexington,” Rogers said.